A feeling of filth and disgust permeate this Netflix series, and binge watchers may need a long shower afterward. It mostly leans from fetishizing or glamorizing Dahmer, presenting a subject aberrant and unsettling, despite Ryan Murphy’s lingering fixation with Evan Peters’ abs. Even those moments leave one more with a feeling of distaste, as there’s a malaise infusing each bit of the performance. From the squalor of Dahmer’s apartment to brightly lit daylight scenes, there is a miasma and revulsion that permeates this depiction. Dahmer comes across as alien and awkward yet with quiet menace, in an exceptional performance by Evan Peters. He is far from the only one delivering excellent work, each performance stands out in a stellar cast, and the impact and focus upon the lives and lingering damage in Dahmer’s wake is heart-rending. Episode 6 is a brilliant standout, and arguably Murphy’s best material to date, with a strong victim centered focus. For a Ryan Murphy joint, the entire series feels surprisingly restrained and respectful, despite the sensational nature of events and subject. It does feel a bit bloated, and many of the earlier episodes could certainly use an editor’s hatchet, but where its good, it excels. The opening episode is a brutal exercise in escalating tension, framing the action from the perspective of Dahmer’s victim experiencing a disorienting and drugged state. The way the camera focuses upon the increasingly disturbing and alarming sights and sounds of Dahmer’s apartment never requires the viewer to understand the specifics of the history or ghastly true-crime details, but viewers will note pooling blood beneath a drill, a strangely placed and ominous chemical barrel, and perhaps note the momentary flash of a severed head in the fridge. It is the subtle details that elevate these scenes, and many sequences are equally nerve-wracking and heart-rending, especially when the series focuses upon the systemic failures that allowed Dahmer to escape scrutiny, due to societal prejudices and failures of law enforcement. Murphy focuses harshly on these elements, while simultaneously broaching milestone events throughout Dahmer’s development where questions of nature vs. nurture are raised without any easy answers. While Dahmer’s childhood certainly had its share of torments and trials, strange influences and indulgences, the series never definitely leans in one direction or the other as to what crafted Dahmer into a monster. What merit one finds in revisiting and reexamining the grotesque horrors and pain one individual inflicted upon countless is to personal taste. However, with each revisiting of the Dahmer tale, new perspectives and details are presented and worth scrutinizing, and the undeniable fascination and allure of true-world monsters assure this will not be the last time Dahmer is depicted onscreen.
Dahmer (2022)